Method and Structures for Acoustic Wave Overlay Error Determination

1. A method comprising: forming a first material layer on a semiconductor wafer, the first material layer comprising a first periodic structure within an overlay mark region of the semiconductor wafer; forming a second material layer on the semiconductor wafer, the second material layer comprising a second periodic structure in the overlay mark region; with an acoustic transmitter device disposed within the overlay mark region, transmitting an acoustic wave across both the first periodic structure and the second periodic structure; with an acoustic wave receiver device, detecting the acoustic wave; and determining an overlay error between the first material layer and the second material layer based on the acoustic wave as detected by the acoustic wave receiver device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the acoustic wave detected by the acoustic wave receiver device is one of: a transmission through the periodic structures or a reflectance off of the periodic structures.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the overlay error comprises analyzing the detected acoustic wave using one of: scattering frequency count; scattering angle; full width half maximum, or center frequency.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the overlay error comprises determining an error in a first direction and a second direction orthogonal to the first direction.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, determining a focus curve by analyzing the detected acoustic wave.

6. A method for forming a structure, the method comprising: forming a first periodic structure on a chip, the first periodic structure comprising a material of a first layer disposed on the chip, wherein the first periodic structure comprises a two-dimensional array of features; forming a second periodic structure within a region of the chip adjacent the first periodic structure, the second periodic structure comprising a second material of a second layer disposed on the chip; forming an acoustic wave transmitter device on the chip; and forming an acoustic wave receiver device on the chip.

7. The structure of claim 6, wherein the first period structure and the second periodic structure are positioned between the acoustic wave transmitter device and the acoustic wave receiver device.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising: with the acoustic wave transmitter device, transmitting an acoustic wave across both the first periodic structure and the second periodic structure; with the acoustic wave receiver device, detecting the acoustic wave; and, determining an overlay error between the first material layer and the second material layer based on the acoustic wave as detected by the acoustic wave receiver device.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein features within the array of features have one of: a rectangular shape, an elliptical shape, a circular shape, or a square shape.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein features of the first periodic structure are intermingled with features of the second periodic structure.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the features of the first periodic structure and the features of the second periodic structure are positioned in alternating rows.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the features of the first periodic structure and the features of the second periodic structure are positioned in a checkered pattern.

13. The method of claim 6, wherein features of the first periodic structure circumscribe features of the second periodic structure.

14. The method of claim 6, further comprising, a piezoelectric layer underneath the first periodic structure and the second periodic structure.

15. The method of claim 6, further comprising, regions of the chip, each region comprising additional periodic structures, an additional acoustic wave receiver, and an additional acoustic wave transmitter, the regions being positioned in series.

16. The method of claim 6, further comprising, regions of the chip, each region comprising additional periodic structures, an additional acoustic wave receiver, and an additional acoustic wave transmitter, the regions being positioned in parallel.

17. A method comprising: forming an acoustic wave transmitter on a chip; forming an acoustic wave receiver on the chip; forming a first periodic structure on the chip, the first periodic structure comprising a first material; and forming a second periodic structure on the chip, the second periodic structure comprising a second material; wherein the acoustic wave transmitter device is configured to transmit an acoustic wave across both the first periodic structure and the second periodic structure.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the acoustic wave transmitter comprises an interdigital transducer.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the acoustic wave transmitter comprises an acoustic emitter.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising: with the acoustic wave transmitter, transmitting an acoustic wave across both the first periodic structure and the second periodic structure; with the acoustic wave receiver, detecting the acoustic wave; and determining an overlay error between the first material layer and the second material layer based on the acoustic wave as detected by the acoustic wave receiver.